SOON SHOWIUNG Director Sally Wright expects renovation work on the raw second floor spaces and throughout the Catskill Art Society’s gallery building on Main Street will be completed in time for the 2022 fall season. Manor Ink file photo
Revamped CAS looks to reopen by Labor Day
By Edward Lundquist | For Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – Main Street will see the bright lights of the Catskill Art Society’s gallery and studio building turned on again later this year as renovation work nears completion.
Director Sally Wright said that CAS is looking forward to a reopening on Labor Day weekend. Work is proceeding this year on adding an elevator, finishing the upper floor and also improving the studio space on the first floor to allow for more mixed media work. The building itself will also be brought up to modern energy standards and will be made ADA compliant.
“Like other projects in the county, CAS’s renovation effort has been hit by delays and increased costs due to the pandemic.”
While the main floor gallery spaces will largely remain unchanged, the second floor, previously unused by CAS, is being dramatically built out to take advantage of its vaulted ceilings, forming two large exhibit spaces. There will also be a third space in the back of the building that overlooks the Willowemoc Creek and will accommodate film showings, music and dance performances, lectures and other events.
“That particular space will allow for the intersection of art and ecology, something we hold so dear as part of our mission,” said Wright. She added that the Society welcomes new ideas and partnerships with other local organizations as a way to utilize the new space.
The front gallery room on the second floor will initially feature an exhibit of large-scale work by the noted conceptual space artist James Turrell. The middle gallery will display works by the late Minimalist Sol LeWitt. Both exhibits will be on extended loans to CAS.
Like other projects in the county, CAS’s renovation effort has been hit by delays and increased costs due to the pandemic. Wright said CAS still requires additional resources to fulfill the upgrade.
The renovation’s completion will allow the return of CAS to the Main Street building after several years of hanging shows at the Laundry King, the Society’s smaller alternative gallery space. Wright looks forward to expanding “CAS Kids” and other community programming. In the interim, exhibits and programming will continue at the Laundry King, including a show of work by current artist-in-residence Anne Raife and a June Pride Month exhibit.
To help CAS complete its ongoing work, visit catskillartsociety.org.
Edward Lundquist is a former associate editor of Manor Ink.